Third Ceremony Ticket for SUU Grads

April 20, 2009Category: Academics

With the close of the ticket deadline for all 2009 graduates hoping to get friends and family into the University-wide Commencement ceremony featuring keynote speaker LDS President Thomas S. Monson, the Southern Utah University Commencement Committee can now confidently announce that a third ticket will be available to all graduates who previously collected their two ceremony tickets before the April 17 deadline.

This news comes as a welcome relief to many soon-to-be grads who have been trying to finalize plans for their graduation guests.

The second round of ticket distribution for a third ticket will open at the Centrum Ticket Office Monday, April 20, at 8 a.m. and run through the close of business on Friday, April 24, at 5 p.m.

Again, only those students planning to participate in the main Commencement Ceremony in cap and gown and who have met the original ticketing deadline will be eligible for this third ticket.

As always, SUU officials hope to see the Centrum Arena packed on Saturday, May 2, when the University will celebrate its largest graduating class in the institution’s history. And true to their word, they have kept students as the top priority in this celebration, providing as many seats in the arena as possible for the family and friends of this year’s graduates.

That said, it is important to note that students do not receive their diploma in the University-wide ticketed ceremony at 9 a.m. Rather, students will be individually recognized with the awarding of a degree in their individual college convocation at either 11:30 a.m. or 2 p.m. that same day. Those ceremonies are not ticketed and seating remains unrestricted. We encourage students to invite as many family and friends as they would like to these ceremonies to join in the celebration of this momentous accomplishment.

All guests on SUU’s campus that weekend who do not receive a ticket to the main commencement ceremony will be able to view the festivities through a live television feed from several locations across campus. These overflow locations include the Sharwan Smith Theater, the J.L. Sorenson Physical Education Building and the Randall L. Jones Theater. Additionally, overflow seating with the live feed will also be set up in the chapel of the LDS Institute Building just north of campus and in the Heritage Theatre in downtown Cedar City.

In all, overflow seating can accommodate more than 5,000 people hoping to hear from SUU President Michael T. Benson, 2009 student speaker Natalie Gunn, and President Monson. The ceremony will also be aired live locally on SUTV.

For additional information concerning commencement ticket distribution, the individual college convocations or any other 2009 graduation concerns, visit Graduation Headquarters online at www.suu.edu/graduation.